Their chances of survival in the wild are slim. So these white lion cubs are a very welcome arrival at the Loro Zoo in Puebla, Mexico
Vet student Andrea Sumohano says one cub is an introvert while her sister is gregarious.
Andrea Sumohano, vet student, “She wants to climb, wants to be on top, biting, licking. She is very active and eats a lot. The other is more sleepy and calm and gets angry when her sister disturbs her.”
The cubs were removed from their mother, Numbi, who failed to immediately feed them. And they will be hand-reared until they are three months old.
The zoo’s white lions hail from South Africa, where their pale color makes them vulnerable in the wild, says zoo vet, Carlos Gomez Medina. “Remember that the animals depend on their color as a camouflage in the wild to evade being hunted. The white lions can be easily seen and rarely survive in the natural environment.”
White lions are technically extinct outside captivity - the last one spotted in the wild was in South Africa in 1994.
